Kids at a buffet: What ages, prices are fair?

I’ve noticed interesting variations in age limits for kids for Easter and now Mother’s Day brunch buffets. Most restaurants charge kids about half-price, but for some places that discount applies to anyone age 14 or younger, for example, while others charge half-price for kids age 5 to 10 or 4 to 12, and anyone younger eats for free (or, more likely, grazes from a parent’s plate).

It seems obvious that most 14-year-olds will eat significantly more than a 4-year-old, and yet they’d pay the same. On the other hand, all adults pay the same regardless of how much they eat.

What age parameters and pricing do you think are fair for kids? Would you choose one place over another if you had to pay a children’s price for a 3-year-old, or an adult’s price for a 13-year-old?

25 Responses

Yes, a 14 year old would eat much more than a 3 year old, but then again, a 14 year old is much less likely to run around the dining area screaming, jabbing at diners with their utensils and grabbing things off of the buffet with their hands and throwing them back, while their “parents” sit and act amused at their little darlings antics.

Teenagers (of all weights and sizes) tend to eat like rhinos and should be charged the full price. Under 13 – half price would be fair. Under 3 – free if they are sleeping – if they aren’t sleeping, charge them double plus a surcharge for every scream, to be split among the diners in their area trying to eat in peace.

#1, wrong on the 3yr olds, my boys never got away with any of that at a restaurant, just the opposite.
There’s no way I would have paid full price for my boys when they were in the 3 yr. range, but I’d buy one entree and let them split it (if no kids menu). They’re under 10 now, and if you give them 1/2 price on food, you’re gonna lose. At 13 & 14, forgettaboutit, they can eat like (starving) adults. Half price at this age would be a steal!

I have a 4 y/o that I know will barely eat a thing when he’s out. At least a regular entree you can wrap up and take home,if we went to a buffet I would be just giving away my money. I wouldn’t pay anything over $6 for him at a buffet at this age.

Definitely charge full price for teenagers (12+) since they are likely to eat as much as a healthy adult. It is reasonable to expect parents to prepare the plates for small children who may not understand that they shouldn’t take more than they will eat, and that they shouldn’t touch food on the buffet table.

Obviously much of my post was tongue-in-cheek, and additionally anyone who goes out on Mother’s Day knows what to expect at a buffet situation such as Steve mentioned. And of course all youngsters arenot ill-mannered either.

However, if you haven’t experienced instances where children are simply out of control (again – not just having a cranky time here) and clearly have never been given boundaries in terms of behavior, and there is no effort by the guardian to get the situation in hand, then I suggest that you haven’t gone out much, or you go out very late.

That’s the case not only in restaurants, but concert halls and movie theatres as well. Parents who badly misjudge what their child is ready for in terms of social situations at a particular age do no one any favors, especially the poor kid. Teach your children proper manners at Friendly’s before you take them to Jack’s.

Anger? When I’m spending over a hundred dollars expecting a pleasant dining experience and I’m subjected to ear-curdlng screams and tantrums – guilty as charged. Not at the child, but at the parents too cheap to kick for a babysitter and/or too lazy to do their job.

Again, not all or even most children fit that description. We know where our own kids fall in this area. It takes work, and while “stop” might be a four-letter word, it’s not a bad word.

I have no clue what that means, but since you indicate that you don’t want to spend more than 6 bucks for a meal, at least I won’t ever have to suffer your company.

…and for the record, I had 3 year old’s twice, and nobody ever had to roll their eyes at them anywhere but in the ball crawl at Chucky Cheese. You can tell when you make a comment that hits home though, but unfortunately this has gone off topic, even though I think behavior would be a valid topic for another place.

SaratogaJim, since the topic is buffets, and specifically brunch buffets, I don’t think you’re going to be “spending over a hundred dollars expecting a pleasant dining experience”. In fact, I don’t think you’re going to be there at all. So?

ok saratogajim i understand your general sentiment–i have a 2 and 4 yr old and there are certain places i will not take them–a nice restaurant on sat evening, or a symphony for example. however, i get annoyed when people give me dirty looks when my kids are not acting perfectly in a public place that is not an “adults only” zone. Im talking about starbucks, the post office etc–places i happen to be at when i am running errands and my kids are there b/c i cant afford to hire a nanny/babysitter whenever i leave my house. as far as the blog topic if a restaurant charges anything for a kid under 5 i am not going back–shalimar in delmar charges half price for my toddlers when they both consume a plate of rice and some naan. I think kids should be charged half price b/w the ages of 5-12 and full price thereafter.

How the restaurant prices and advertises its kids rates helps us decide whether or not to go to that restaurant, very often are dining habits change as the kids go through the different stages. The restaurants use the discount kid prices as a way to attract the grown ups full price participation. It gets confusing at very small buffets which don’t prominently place the information, you sometimes stay away bc you just don’t know, and don’t want sticker shock afterwards.

I tend to agree some what with Saratoga Jim. restaurants are no place for a child to be running around. I have raised 4 children and have 12 grandchildren so a crying child in a restaurant does not bother me at all, but children running around does. Waitress are carrying hot coffee or heavy trays and having to step around or dodge a running child is not good. Buffets are the same, you have customers carrying plates and they do not want to dodge a child.
I have been at restaurants where the parents sit at their table enjoying the dinner and let their child roam the restaurant and visits with other patroons and say oh how cute. No it is not cute. If you didn’t want to sit with your child while you ate then you should not have brought your child. Sound harsh, I am sorry. But when I go out with my husband without my children or grandchildren it is because we wanted to enjoy a quiet dinner by ourselves, not with someone elses child.
So Saratoga Jim you are right to a point and sorry for the ones that don’t agree.

I am a single Mom with 3 kids. I love buffets, especially brunches and especially would like to go out for mother’s day. But could never afford it. I think that is why they have it half price for 12 and under, not only because those kids might not eat as much, but to give a break to the parents who have a bunch of kids.
I feel it is kind of over pricing during the Holidays for a Brunch buffet when they charge $30.00 + per person. What if I had to pay for me and my 3 kids to go there for Mother’s day, It would cost me over $120.00 for one meal. I could buy a weeks worth of groceries for us for that. I don’t mind paying adult prices at places like Golden Corral, because that is only around $12.00 for an adult plus your drink and lunch is much less. Trouble is we go there and eat too much. So, I guess these buffets and brunches aren’t good for us anyway, because we all feel we want to get our moneys worth and over eat. I know that is what happens when we go. Then we get sick and fat and feel like crap.
Maybe they should charge at buffets based on people’s weight. Instead of some buffets charge on the weight of the food, for take out. Maybe if they started charging people by their weight they would realize they need to lose weight.

As a mom of two, I totally agree with SaratogaJim. Nothing is more annoying than dining out at a nice place while I’m paying a babysitter for a relaxing evening, only to be seated next to a family with misbehaving, loud, or crying kids. I’m not talking Friendly’s, of course we know what to expect at family restaurants. When my kids were younger, we stuck to family restaurants. Even there, if they were crying or misbehaving, one of us would take them outside out of respect to other diners, or leave the restaurant if they were misbehaving – this is how children learn manners, and is common courtesy! I have two daughters, one 12, who does not eat much at all, although we are now used to paying full price for her. I think under 12 should be half price to about 5, and then free. And yes, we have avoided places that charge a lot for kids – I can’t see paying $25 for brunch for either of my girls, who would not eat even half of the typical adult portions.

I agree with many of the sentiments about kids in fine restaurants but the discussion began with a mention of Easter and Mother’s day buffets. Uh, Mother’s Day buffets are usually geared toward bringing the whole family.
If other people’s kids annoy you, stay away from restaurants on Mother’s Day.

I agree that if you cannot get your child to sit down at the table for the duration of the meal, that you should not be taking your child to a “fine dining” establishment. Places like Friendly’s and McDonald’s and Moe’s etc are a great way to establish good restauran manners. OTOH, if you stop in to Friendly’s for an ice cream and there are kids popping up over the back of the booth behind you, get over it.

As for pricing, It is fair to graduate the prices. Let’s face it, babies probably wont eat anything, toddlers might have a 1/4 of a chicken breast and some milk, children from 3-6 with have a bit more. Of course there are exceptions in either direction. When my son was 7 he’s polish off a full rack of ribs like a pro, but he’s rare.
The best you can do if try to determine, based on how much your kids usually eat, if there is value in the pricing.

I’m a mom and I totally agree with SaratogaJim. We just got back from dinner at a diner with our 8 and 4 year old and all of us — kids included — were completely annoyed by a two year old having a mommy attack. Her mom was a waitress (on duty) and her dad was clueless. The child was shrieking as soon as her mom went to go tend her tables, but neither parent seemed to care/do anything about it. Needless to say, we’ll never go back.

Many parents need to get a clue. If your child is having a fit, be considerate of others and take them out. My husband and I did that plenty of times with our guys when they acted out. It’s common courtesy. No one thinks a misbehaving child is cute when you’re out in a restaurant.

The problem, especially in this economy, is that if you charge children 12 and up adult prices for brunches, restaurants will lose business. My daughter is 13 and there is no way she eats as much as an adult, and frankly, neither do I, (and we don’t even eat meat, so we are real bargains!) so they make money on us. But it limits me going out for a nice buffet brunch, since it now costs us so much if we pay for her as an adult. Why not have a three tier pricing policy, so kids under 13 can be one price, teens another and adults the full price? I would have gone out for brunch tomorrow if that were the case, (even though it’s a tough day to go out!) and go to other brunches and try new places if it were more affordable with kids.

Lisa, I see your point but if you daughter were a boy, every buffet would take a bath! My 10yo son eats WAY more than I do. I cannot imagine what it will be like to feed him when he’s 14.
Buffets charge based on averages. The “average woman eats less than the “average” man so on a per couple basis they figure to make a profit at a certain level, knowing that most of the men will “make out” and the women won’t. Men are more likely to eat more expensive food like meats and more of them. Women will eat lighter stuff like salads and pastas which when prepared in big quantities are relatively cheap.

As for children, if a place runs a buffet regularly (not just Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day etc) they should have the right price structure after a time. I’d adresay that in many families the teens eat MORE than the adults, not less.

Good question! One of the restaurants I take my sons to charges 75 cents per year of age until 14 years. Then adult prices. Yet they eat way more than me, and I don’t eat meat, so that’s a substantial savings to the restaurant owner. One of things I have done in the past is to have a really early dinner, because the prices between the lunch and dinner buffet go up by 25% at 3 pm, we will go at 2:30. And for the same price as the buffet, I will get a dinner off the menu then I can take home the leftovers. The things we do!!

I am looking into starting my own buffet, american, and family oriented. All these comments are good and helpful and wish every restaurant read/heard these. I was figuring on $10 an adult and children 10+, children 6-10 1/4 off, children 4-6 1/2 off, and Under 4 free. But part of my reasoning for a buffet is Family…. somewere mom can take the kids and not feel embarassed.

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